One month left…

Today it is exactly one month left until we fly to Jordan. All the flights for this trip are with Turkish Airline.
We have a stopover in Istanbul late in the evening before flying to Aqaba in Jordan. We land at night, so the hotel is contacted to notify our late arrival. Hotel for our stay here is Marina Plaza.

Picture is borrowed from http://travelnews.no

The first day we’re going to use exploring Aqaba. We did not leave much more time to Aqaba, although we would have liked to go diving in the Red Sea – but we will have the opportunity later. So then we prioritize other stuff this time.
Early morning the 2nd day we will be picked up and driven to Wadi Rum Visitor Centre.
It is perhaps worth mentioning that we were contacted on FB from a guy in Jordan who wondered if there was anything he could help us with. So we now have arranged driver for our entire stay in Jordan!
So back to Wadi Rum… We will be with Bedouins all day in the desert to experience the beautiful landscape of Wadi Rum. The plan is to get around in 4×4 and camels, and we will spend the night in the Bedouin camp. (wadirumtours.com)

Picture is borrowed from wadirumtours.com

Early the next morning we will be picked up and driven to Petra. Here we will spend the time that we need, while our driver take care of our luggage (it’s no place to store the luggage at Petra Visitor Centre).
After Petra we will move on up to the Dead Sea and the hotel for the next two nights; Dead Sea Spa.

Fun fact about the Dead Sea: At over 400 metres below sea level, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on the Earth’s surface

During our stay at this hotel we plan to take a bath in the Dead Sea. And we will also be driven to the ruins in Jerash. If we have time to spare we think to spend some time in Amman, the capital of Jordan.

Picture of ‘The Treasury’ is borrow from http://tourists360.com/petra-jordan/

After this we will say goodbye to Jordan and be driven to the border for crossing into Palestine and Israel.
As we have read that it may take lots of time to cross the border, we have the entire day to this. But if it goes smoothly we have the rest of the day to spend in Jerusalem. The hotel for the night there is the Prima Royale.

The plan for the next day is to experience Jerusalem and Bethlehem before heading to Tel Aviv for one night there on TLV88. In Tel Aviv we will use the hours we have to spare before we have to head to the airport on our last day in Israel. We have been advised to be out in good time!

On the way home we have a stopover in Istanbul again, but this time we will be stay for two nights to see what Istanbul has to offer.

Picture of Istanbul is borrowed from http://glamgrid.com/15-less-known-facts-about-istanbul/

We have some more research to do when it comes to what to see and do in Israel and Istanbul.

Fun fact about Istanbul: Istanbul is the only city in the world that spans over two continents: Asia and Europe

We get visas for Jordan when we arrive at the airport in Aqaba. From what I understand this is free to get in Aqaba, unlike if we had landed in Amman where it costs 20JD. Visa to Turkey we have organized online (https://www.evisa.gov.tr/en/) and it cost 20USD.

This will probably be a very exciting trip with a tight schedule, with little time to relax. But we do not go to Jordan and Israel for relaxation but for the experiences and the adventures.
Some would probably have preferred to spend more time on this trip, but this is the time we have available and we will try to make the best of it.

This is a trip where we go out of our comfort zone. We like to drive and only have ourselves to think about, but now we’ve given the responsibility to another driver. We shall also cross the border at the only border crossing who is open to the Palestinians (Allenby Bridge), and we have read it can be a bit chaotic tendencies. But no need to take the sorrows in advance! Whatever challenges we get or unexpected things that appears, this will be a memorable trip we will be able to look back on. And not to mention a trip we can share with the rest of you.

Think about how boring it will be if everything goes smooth and completely within our comfort zone!